Mall in China holds a fashion show in mid-air, men rejoice while women scorn

Fashion, as with any other sort of art or design, can be a very subjective matter. What one person considers beautiful and thought-provoking may be unappealing or just plain odd in another’s eyes.

But a fashion show recently held in China invited controversy not due to the apparel being exhibited but the way in which it was presented. The event featured models suspended from the ceiling as if walking on air, offering the audience below an entirely fresh perspective…

A shopping mall in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province organized an extraordinary fashion show within their premises earlier this month, with models fitted with wire cables which enabled them to “walk on air” as they showed off their fancy threads. Instead of strutting their signature style on the catwalk, the girls were to “sashay” down an imaginary runway that was six storeys above ground level.

An air fashion show! Sounds like an awesome idea, right? Except that the organizers seemingly neglected to consider one thing: the view from directly below.

As the dolled-up models tiptoed through the air as if walking on a tightrope, dozens of people below whipped out their camera phones and began snapping away. Taking photos at a fashion show is of course nothing unusual, but on this occasion it was predominantly the male spectators who could be seen reaching for the shutter button. Sadly, this wasn’t the birth of a new generation of male fashion aficionados, but simply a bunch of dudes who could, like, totally see up that’s girl’s skirt, and just had to capture the magical moment of floating panties.

▼ Why is she wearing her safety shorts under her knickers instead of over them…?

The male audience seemed to be delighted with the show, but it definitely didn’t sit well with the ladies present, who commented that this was little more than “an upskirt exhibition”.

Upon witnessing these photos, some Internet users attempted to throw in a dose of rationality, commenting, “What’s there to see when they’re all wearing safety shorts?” and noting that “there’s nothing much you can see when they’re six storeys above you”.

Whether the organizers simply neglected the possibility of upskirt views, or fully intended for the audience to get an eyeful as a means of drumming up publicity, we can’t say. Either way, it certainly seems that few people will have left this particular fashion show thinking about this season’s styles.